My SL has been Crunched

[Arnie]

Earlier this year in June, I booked my SL into the local dealer to have a long-term problem with one of the Xenon lights seen to. The light problem was mostly fixed and when I went to collect the car I mentioned that my alloys looked corroded and asked if these were covered under the warranty. The wheels were inspected to verify that they were not kerbed or damaged by me and then I was told that they would be replaced under warranty (1-month remaining at the time), but the service person told me he would have to get back to me as to whether they would be new alloys or re-furbished ones.

A few days later I received a phone call to say that I would be getting re-furbished ones, but that a set would not be available until late September.

So, a few weeks ago, I got a call saying that wheels had arrived and I made a booking to do the sawp-over. Because of work, I subsequently had to postpone the date until last week but on the phone everything seemed fine.

Then, when I turned up at the service reception, a person came out to see me and then disappeared again for a long time. He then came back and to cut a long story short, he told me that the wheels would not be replaced under warranty because the car was now outside the warranty period. I explained that when the fault was reported the car was still in warranty and that another service staff-member had made a note of this together with the car's mileage which was less than 10,000. I was then told that warranty work had to be completed within the warranty period, to which I replied that it was not my fault if it took more than 3 months to get the wheels in the first place. Also, the fact that there are re-furbished wheels available for a very specific design only used on the last 2 years of SL production, shows that the corrosion could not have been an uncommon problem, which in my case was a gradual deterioration since acquiring the car at 1-year old.

Well, while I was arguing and losing my temper another service person asked to borrow my keys to move my car in the car-park.

Eventually, after going to complain to the salesman who sold me the car, the service manager agreed to put in a claim to MB to see if they would sanction the wheel replacement under warranty. (This was already done in June???).

So, as I was leaving, one of the staff went to get my car and brought it to me. I then decided not to leave right away but to pop into the parts dept for a few spares and when I glanced at the car as I was closing the door, I noticed that the rear end had been crunched.

As the car had never had so much as a single scratch I was so upset at seeing the damage, particularly as I'd always avoided car-parks whenever possible for fear of dents and dings.

It later transpired that the car had been moved and double-parked and most probably some other customer (b*****d!) had severely clipped it on their way out.

I could feel the dealer's tone gradually shifting towards the "oh Sir, it must have been there already". However, as I'd just washed the car that very morning and had gone over every inch by hand with a sponge, I could be certain that it was not prior damage.

Then, it was suggested to review the CCTV footage of the car-park. I waited an hour, while they tried to rewind the tape, but I had doubts that a single camera, perched up high and looking at the whole car-park could have captured much detail on a grey, rainy morning.

Well, it was not until the next day that after calling-in their security company, they managed to review the tape. I then got a call saying that while they could not see clearly enough to obtain any registration numbers, they could see that one or two other cars had come very close and possibly touched. Fortunately, they continued to say that they would, however, pick-up the repair costs.

The repair has been booked in for this Monday and will consist of panel beating with a respray to the whole of the OS rear wing and rear bumper.

I went to check out the the repair place yesterday and on first-glance, due to its back-street nature, I must say that it did not inspire me with great confidence. However, after talking to the manager there and him explaing the £7k of repair-work they'd just finished on a new SL55AMG, I felt somewhat happier.

So, hopefully, the colour match and paint finish will not be too different from the original.

An now, a few moments ago, I received a call from the dealer to say that the refurbished wheels could be fitted after the repairs, next week.

So, some credit to this dealer for picking up the repair tab, but I do regret ever going there in the first place so that this avoidable crunch on an an otherwise unmarked car would not have happened.

 

[peterchurch]

OMG that made my blood boil just reading this You did well to avoid a man slaughter charge in my books :evil:

 

[OlafMaxwell]

It seems this is a typical trick of MB....mess around with the repairs until the warranty expires and then tell the customer tough luck it's outside warranty. I never experienced that with any other car but its all over the MB service network.

They tried that with me too, from day 1 I had a faulty oil level sensor....wrote it on the service list every time. Then one month outside warranty they fixed it.....and a bill for $400 odd. Man behind counter with a straight face look at my astonished expression and without any emotion...'Thats the bill, its outside warranty'!! To which my reply was..you were advised many times of this defect and you missed it on every service. Once you are advised then its covered by warranty. When he said I could not have the car back without paying I said ok, hold on to it while I get my solicitor up here in which case you will be compensating me for withholding the car. Eventually he gave in. I went after them for the other items they cocked up too and they paid up for them after much hassle.

The legal position is crystal clear, all you have to do is identify the fault inside the period of the warranty. After that it's their problem. With Mercedes you really need to know your consumer rights. Its also important that when you send your car for warranty repair or even a service that you put your requests in writing. My Peugeot dealer even requested I do that, said it was very helpful to their workshop and for making sure parts were in stock. Never once was I quoted out of stock parts there.

My experience...the car and the drive build great feelings....the dealers promptly destroy it.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Its a pity about the damage to the car. I did get a [minor] body repair done at an MB dealer and it was a first class match in Travertine Beige. you would not know it had been done. Reversed into a tree that should not have been there......

I also did have a slight misfortune when they dropped the car at the last service, unfortunately there was a mobile tool chest where the car wanted to go and so the front bumper took a hit. Anyway when I went to collect the car they told me the bad news and that they had already ordered the part and that it would come prepainted. No words of grief, fair play and they sorted it out without a bother. This particular garage I have stayed with.

Poetic justice.....what if the dealer had not been arguing with you about the wheels...the car would not have been there.......and they would have no bill to pay.!!!

 

[jberks]

The 'out of warranty' argument isn't exclusive to Merc i'm afraid. Though my experience and that of postings I've read is that Merc are actually rather good at paying for things on cars that are out of warranty (though I agree yours wasn't!) but shouldn't have failed. They sometimes need a little nudge but I wonder how many other manufacturers pay up at all.
It does make you wonder as personally, I couldn't stand in front of a customer and make such a clearly daft argument.
I took my wife's 2 year old A3Tsport into an Audi dealer to have a defective alarm looked at. I was informed that as the car hadn't been serviced for over 12 months, the warranty was void. I pointed out that ignoring the fact that a service would not have avoided the alarm failing, the car had come in as advised by the service indicator and in fact was 100 miles early. If they wanted a time limit, they should have built one in to the indicator like my merc. A call to Audi customer service confirmed that the warranty was void, but when the service receptionist suggested that they might like to speak to me directly, they bottled and asked whether I would like the warranty re-instating? (Daah?) . What amazed me was that in my mind this was nothing more than a simple admin cock-up, yet by the conversation between the 2 audi people, we we having to argue the case.
So Merc aren't always that terrible. Plus, I wonder whether Ford/BMW etc would have paid up for the bodywork without the threat of court action ?

 

[peterchurch]

Toyota pulled exactly the same stunt on me with my MR2 1 month before the car was due out of warranty I pointed out that the alloys were rotting off their spindles to which they said they would have to clear it with Toyota because the car was too close to the end of the warranty, Then waited for a month till the car was outside warranty and bumped me
As it was I needed some new tires before I sold it, and a full set of stock wheels with two good tires on them, came up for the cost of the tires so I had them.
My Toyota dealers head of the dealership, phoned me up the other week to see if I wanted to look at their new range of cars (valued customer etc... ). I pointed out that thanks to the little git in the servicing department when I changed my partner?s car, back in May I bought a brand spanking new top of the range Honda CRV with _ALL_ the toys (Asked him how much Toyota tin that would have bought me :twisted: )
and when I parted with my otherwise lovely MR2 I stepped up to an SL class :evil: and that both cars would have probably been Toyotas if it wasn't for their ill thought out, short term win. So it cost him two new premium cars plus servicing costs and all that warranty work He was not a happy man :twisted:

 

[Arnie]

Thank you all for your words of sympathy.

The thing that gets me is that in June the wheel replacement had been OK'd by MB and then later in July, when I went to see the Dealer Principle at that dealership regarding another complaint-related matter, he told me he would see if he could get me new alloys instead of re-furbished ones.

During our conversation, all the time he was asking me if I wanted to upgrade to a new SL350, but I told him that I was still wainting to get satisfaction out of my present one....

Well, he never called back, but in September I got a call saying the refurbished alloys were ready for fitting. I don't know if MB had changed their mind or if, by the sounds of it, the dealer never made the request properly in the first-place in June, but they could have told me of the situation instead of letting me turn up for the fitting. They had plenty of opportunity, especially as I had to call them twice to postpone the appointment.


The thing is that my alloys have only had less than 12,000 miles on them and the corrosion, while noticeable, is not all that bad. So it would not have been a big problem to keep my existing ones (especially as refurbished ones are not all that perfect either). But it was more the attitude of the Service Person apparently switching tacks on the warranty issue that upset me rather than not getting the wheels. He'd also suggested that I might have travelled a couple of times round the world since June, making the alloys worse!


But, as Olaf said:

"...Poetic justice.....what if the dealer had not been arguing with you about the wheels...the car would not have been there.......and they would have no bill to pay.!!! ..."


Yes, that is the biggest irony, because if they had not made so much fuss or had bothered to tell me on the phone that I would not get the alloys, then the damage to the car and costs might have been avoided.

Right now I'm not so bothered about the alloys as they pale to insignificance compared to the crunch on the car. I am grateful, however, that at least this dealer is sorting the repair, because in such circumstances, I don't imagine that many others would without further hassle and stress.

At the end of the day, I guess the dealer didn't park the car in the best way, but it was actually some other delinquant customer who did the damage. I keep going over in my mind "what if..." What if I'd left earlier or never went there at all..?

It's just one of those things that you think will be straight-forward and simple but ends up in disaster, which could so easily have been avoided.

The other thing is that I have been a customer at that dealership for 20-years and even though now taken over by MB, the staff are still the same.

This brings me back to the dealer principle's suggestion about upgrading to the new model. Why ???

 

[Arnie]

Just to conclude this story, I now have the car back and must say that the repair and paintwork is first rate. No overspray, no masking-lines, no ripples and no signs of abrasive-paper marks under the paint. The colour is also a perfect match. The rear wing panel is very curved on this car and what is more impressive is that all the curves and edges have been perfectly restored.

The only tell-tale sign is that the whole wing panel has been sprayed with top-coat of lacquer covering both the repair area and untouched areas. This leaves it looking slightly shinier with slighly more orange-peel effect than the adjacent panels (the original paintwork already had a fair amount of orange-peel effect on the sides).

Still, this is just me being fussy and short of putting it back on the paint-shop line at the factory in Germany, I don't think it could have been better.

Having seen so many poor paint jobs and even experienced a few on previous cars, I was somewhat dreading this, but I needn't have worried.

It's good to know that there are still some people out there that can do a professional job.

(BTW: I'd be happy to recommend this repairer to anyone looking for quality paint-work in SW London, as although they mostly repair MB cars and handle a lot of work from MB dealers, they are an independant outfit.)

The car went back to the Dealer form the Paintshop at the end of last week, when they actually fitted the re-furbished wheels that started all of this off.

After they fitted the wheels, they found a problem with the BAS/EPS light, which would not extinguish. Ater a day, they tracked the problem down to a possible fault with the Yaw-sensor unit and were going to order a replacement free-of-charge. Then it turned out to be a faulty connector pin on the unit, that was the problem and the connector was replaced.

Anyway, in this instance I have to give top marks to the dealer for a good recovery from a bad situation.

 

[Jixes]

I sympathise with you and had a similar experience, although not as severe as yours;

I placed my Mercedes SL (13'000m) into my local dealer to have the front heated seat element replaced under warranty. I went into the showroom and spoke to the service representative who arranged to have my car brought round from the service compound to outside the front of the showroom. I waited outside and the representative brought my SL around and handed me over the keys. He then noticed that the drivers folding mirror was half folded back out of position and pushed it back into position and walked away. I thought that?s not right and when I inspected the mirror it had a deep scratch across the face of the mirror in the designo metallic black paintwork. The Mercedes Dealer agreed to replace the mirror and after 2 attempts (colour wasn?t right on either occasion) and after I visited their sub contractor paintwork specialist to point out that the colour still correct, they got it right.

My point is that because the damage to the mirror happened on the driver?s side surely somebody at MB knew it happened, especially as their service department car park is restricted to their personnel only. Their car park is always packed full of cars so closely parked together.

None of my experiences with MB dealers inspires confidence, I hate handing my car over to them and always worry about what?s going to happen to it whilst its in their possession. I will never let them wash my car again as last time in came back with deep swirl marks and light scratches over the bodywork. I am fussy with the quality of service, but that why I purchased a Mercedes?..

Hope your enjoying your SL. What type of alloys do you have out of interest?

http://www.sovrin.com/r129/

 

[peterchurch]

I was in an MB dealers yesterday having a nightmare with a windscreen replacement. While I was there a chap turned up to change another windscreen on an old J reg SL The car was parked out front in a packed car park the chap got a plastic seat cover placed it over the drivers seat, got in and revved the engine like it was a dustbin he then reversed out and drove the car into the work bay it was far too fast given the number of cars around at one point he managed to get the car to wheelspin....

Nice to know that they treat your pride and joy with such care isn't it?
I have written a letter to the dealer expaining what I saw and asking them to comment They are replacing the screen yet again (Im using different show room now ...) As they destroyed my VIN plate when the screen was changed salesman was trying to tempt me to change to an R230 ...
no chance !!

 

[Arnie]

Peter,

Funny that, If they spent a little more time and consideration helping you sort out your existing car then an R230 might be worth thinking about. It seems that all the focus is on selling new cars and then leaving you in the lurch after you've bought one...

They should, however, be able to get you a replacement Visible-VIN plate, if its not too late.


Jixes,

My wheels (2-piece) are the same as these, on the blue car at the top:
http://www.mbspy.com/r129final.htm
(my car is Almandine black [dark burgundy] and was one of 25 for the UK. The interior is the same as in the pic, but the seats are black and burgundy in colour).


It would have been better to have kept my original ones and for me to have had just the rims refurbished when the tyres become due for replacement. The refurbished wheels provided are not quite up to the finish of the originals.

Still, the boyshop managed to get the colour of the rear wing repair spot on and the only slightly tell-tale sign is that the laquer top-coat is slightly thicker and shinier, but I think that this cannot be avoided. Funnily, I compared the repaired wing with the undamage one on the other side, and was impressed that the paintwork finish didn't look too different. Then I realised that they had actually painted both, or at least gone over both with a final laquer coat to keep things even. This is because they are bridged and connected by the rear-deck panel infront of the boot and so you can just end the paint anywhere.

The new paintwork also ended up with some swirly marks and scratches due to being washed too soon (I guess the dealer meant well) as in this cold weather, the paint takes a while to dry and harden properly. Still at least they washed it by hand with a chamois and not through an automatic car wash (like some others), so nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of polishing compound later.

The latest thing is that now the ignition switch (normal metal key) seems to work only intermittently when starting the car. It could be the switch itself or the relay which it controls...

But while, looking under the dash to fiddle with the switch, I noticed how bad the alsrm wiring was.

So, I've spent this weekend rewiring the dealer/ MB-UK fitted alarm, which while working, had been installed so badly with a mess of untidy wiring and the control boxes just left dangling.

I also found that following the dealer's recent diagnosis of the yaw-sensor, the lid to the electrical compartment in the engine bay (fixed by 6 hex screws) had been left completely undone and could have fallen off.

So, I share the same dread about having to leave the car with any dealer. But as the car is now out of warranty, I may just continue to service it myself and keep the receipts for original parts as proof. However, if there's a complicated fault requiring the diagnostics computer, then...

 

[Jixes]

Arnie,

Nice Car, I hope your enjoying it. Sorry to hear about the problems you keep having.

Unfortunately my car has to go back to the dealer for a few things before the warranty expires at the end of January. I have been putting of going as I hate putting the car in somebody else?s hands.

I purchased it 2nd hand last year and have had the heated seat replaced already under warranty which is when the mirror got scratched by MB. Having the seat replaced was bad enough as although I had purchased it through Mercedes Benz London (MB direct) on my first visit to my local dealer to inform them that the heated seat wasn?t working I was told that the Warranty Company had gone bust. As far as I was concerned that didn?t matter as I had purchased the car from Mercedes Benz and it had a Signature Warranty. Several calls to my local dealer and Mercedes London where I purchased the car from and 4 weeks later it was agreed to replace the heated seat. Then I incurred the mirror accident.

Now the car needs to go into the dealer have the following faults rectified;

Occasionally the Oil Level warns that it?s ?High?
The Climate Control unit looses half of its screen display when it?s cold
The remote boot release does not work when it?s very hot.

I have pictures of the top two faults, but feel that there may be a battle with the boot release fault. I am getting ready for a debate?..

We will have to wait and see the outcome!

 

[astudio]

It's not Mercedes but the dealers you should be bitching at.

I can't be bothered reading through all of these whinging posts which are probably all justified, but let me tell you that it's the British disease of confusing service with servility with these barsteward dealerships and not at all the fault of 'Benz of Stuttgart.

The culture of Mercedes in other countries particularly Germany and the US and the Far East is an entirely different story to the ones you read here, believe me, I write from experience.

 

[peterchurch]

Re: It's not Mercedes but the dealers you should be bitching

I can't be bothered reading through all of these whinging posts which are probably all justified, but let me tell you that it's the British disease of confusing service with servility with these barsteward dealerships and not at all the fault of 'Benz of Stuttgart.

The culture of Mercedes in other countries particularly Germany and the US and the Far East is an entirely different story to the ones you read here, believe me, I write from experience.

Oh go on then I'll bite for the troll This has everything to do with Stuttgart. They own the brand, and thanks to some total clowns in development, that have been run by the accountants, and the service levels in this country the UK brand has been ruined.
Service Vs Servility, either would be nice. I run my own business and there are some golden rules for winning repeat business.

1) Treat the customer as Golden.
2) Don't make promises that you can't keep.
3) Deliver work with only the highest quality in mind.

If an independent can achieve this level, then why cant Mercedes?
Honda can and these days they build better cars than Mercedes as well

Mercedes A.G should have had their foot up the backside of the UK arm years ago, and then the crap dealers would have lost their franchises instead of being able to buy local monopolies and drive the small families out the game. Here's a hint for you The small businesses knew that if they annoyed a customer he could go to another dealer and they would lose the money. So they worked hard to keep the customer happy.
With the quality issues surrounding Mercedes today, the small dealer would be a major P.I.T.A To Mercedes bottom line figures, because they could not have stood for second class service we now receive. But if you know that you own every dealership for 50 miles that need to succeed is lost, and you and up with a the total crap that is killing Mercedes today. You should be concerned about this as we pay the highest prices in the world for these cars so we reduce the cost of your cars. When we go and buy Hondas and BMWs instead, where do you think that Mercedes will need to find the money from?

 

[astudio]

Yopu don't understand simple English.......

You need to read my e-mail again and understand what I actually say.

I state quite clearly that the mercedes experience in other countries is quite different to the rubbish service you get in England whether it be from a conglomorate or a so-called independent and in my experience the worse of them is the classic car industry in the UK and I'll name them individually if you like.

I have recently shipped my SL to the far east for several reasons, one of them being cheaper and better access to people who know what they are doing.
You also write in ignorance of some basic facts. The most expensive mercedes cars are where I am writing from which is Phuket Thailand, where a basic C class costs 65,000 UK pounds for example and an SL will set you back 250,000 smackers.
The import duty alone on my 1970 Pagoda Top would be $66, 000 US if I chose to keep it here. And for the record I own several business's all of which are "customer service" based, so, no more silly lectures about running a business please.

 

[peterchurch]

Re: You don't understand simple English.......

You need to read my e-mail again and understand what I actually say.

I state quite clearly that the mercedes experience in other countries is quite different to the rubbish service you get in England whether it be from a conglomorate or a so-called independent and in my experience the worse of them is the classic car industry in the UK and I'll name them individually if you like.

I have recently shipped my SL to the far east for several reasons, one of them being cheaper and better access to people who know what they are doing.
You also write in ignorance of some basic facts. The most expensive mercedes cars are where I am writing from which is Phuket Thailand, where a basic C class costs 65,000 UK pounds for example and an SL will set you back 250,000 smackers.
The import duty alone on my 1970 Pagoda Top would be $66, 000 US if I chose to keep it here. And for the record I own several business's all of which are "customer service" based, so, no more silly lectures about running a business please.

:roll: But if you had bothered to read the thread you would have understood the crux of what was being discussed, and would not have been treated as a troll.

If you think you are getting good service then I am glad for you. MB UK alas falls short, and this is one of the points of Arnies' thread. Instead of turning up and stating that you get great service and can't be bothered to read the thread that you are contributing to try thinking instead.

 

[astudio]

You rude c*nt this is a forum which you don't seem to understand and you still can't understand basic English apparently.

 

[peterchurch]

You rude c*nt this is a forum which you don't seem to understand and you still can't understand basic English apparently.

Understanding the English language, as opposed to the meaning of the words spoken are clearly different topics. Given that we both seem to have command of the English written word I will assume you mean the latter...

We have obviously crossed wires quite badly. Always a problem in electronic communication, as you do not have the benefit of vocal inflection. I am generally a good natured chap.

I would like to suggest we take this discussion off forum if you wish to argue it further ...

But I will demonstrate my point ...

I can't be bothered reading through all of these whinging posts which are probably all justified...

Not the way to win friends considering the topic was about poor service in the UK...

Maybe, you might have tried ...

It may seem that service is bad for all MB customers, however from my experience, service is much improved across Asia Pacific and the US market...

If you want to make bold, cold and sweeping statements don't be surprised when you run across people as robust as yourself.
Of course this quite clearly applies to myself

Sorry if I have caused offence unnecessarily

Best regards,

Peter